Suggestions for a fretless life?

Being of a philosophical bent, I have been pondering the existential question:

CAN SOMEONE TREAD THE FRETLESS PATH IN ALL WALKS OF LIFE?

In our musical paths we have chosen to go fretless, but what does this really mean to YOU?

I chose to go fretless as it makes me feel more in control of my music. If I make a fuck up -it is just me and a blank piece of wood- nothing else can be blamed. It is a harder path, but one which can take you in many new directions. Still finite possibilities, (I tried an infinite fingerboard once, nearly had someone's eye out with it), but so much more potential to do something new and challenging. Perhaps I should have stuck with minor pentatonics and joined a pub rock band .....

In life, can we go fretless?

I think fretless driving could be a bad idea, I seem to remember someone telling me those lines on the tarmac were there for a good reason... I forget.

Who has some ideas of fretless philosophy being applicable to their everyday life?

I had some crotchless slippers once. they were pink and had pompoms on the toes. I do miss them so. They were abducted by an evil consortium of mooses and badgers, probably something to do with the masons. Just goes to show, you can't trust anyone these days.

I had some crotchless slippers once. they were pink and had pompoms on the toes. I do miss them so. They were abducted by an evil consortium of mooses and badgers, probably something to do with the masons. Just goes to show, you can't trust anyone these days.

Bet you looked a treat in them...

Play the blues guitar with your soul, but play the fretless guitar with your spirit.Author of the book "Fretless Guitar The Definitive Guide" fretlessguitar.co.uk

Back to THE FRETLESS PATH - is that the freedom to think and listen differently?

Is it the freedom to walk on the grass and not care?

Is it the will to create something markedly different?

Is it the will to bend the rules, or even write new ones?

Is it the belief that we are on a musical brink, where all will change and nothing remain the same?

Frets / Fences / Walls / Barriers / Slots / Ruts / Rails / Rules

???

Well, if we're getting philosophical here -

Stravinsky said "Discipline is freedom" meaning that once you have a structure to work with, it frees your energy from having to come up with that initial structure, so that you can put that energy into creating whatever you will within that structure (Indian music is a great example of this principle - the discipline of the raga provides the structure within which you have great improvisational freedom.)

Think of the bad wankfest jams you may have participated in where no-one could gel into a structure, so the jam never went anywhere...

Conversely, you can also say "freedom is discipline" - with the freedom, you are thrown back solely onto your own devices to come up with the structures you will need in order to create anything.

So:

fretless is both the freedom to choose anything and the discipline that you have to find within yourself to create structure as a result of having that freedom - there is no external person or thing (i.e., frets) to create the structure for you.

So you could say fretless means being totally responsible for yourself. No excuses.

"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench - a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side..." - Hunter S. ThompsonC# Orchestra on Soundcloud

Very much so, an analogy would be to say that 'a bad workman always blames his tools' but when you get rid of frets you get rid of the 'tools' that any sane guitarist would use to stay in a comfort zone of tonality. Fretless guitar is so hands on compared to fretted guitar. Just you, the strings and a blank canvas. I love it.

I take on board the idea of freedom and structure- how many self taught musicians do you know who can do their party piece wanky solo and that is about it? Conversely, how many classically trained musicians do you know who panic if you take away their sheet of music?

The best musicians I have had the pleasure of playing with have all been classically trained but have managed to see the bigger picture so well that they can improvise freely and use all the tools at their disposal. But they are in the minority.